8. Admin theme
Making use of the Adminimal theme CMS
users are now given a cleaner, clearer
experience when using Drupal.
http://adminimal.netsite.gr
9. Admin navigation
Navbar provides CMS users with a
responsive administration menu allowing
easier navigation across all devices.
https://www.drupal.org/project/navbar
User experience is usually focused on the end users, their goals and tasks. Often CMS users are left with only the basic tools to manage their site. A few simple modifications and modules can be used to make their job quicker and easier.
Who will be using it? One person, multiple people, do they work together or separately?
What do they need to achieve from the site on a daily/weekly/monthly biases. What do they need to get out of it?
Frequent tasks should be as easy to perform as possible.
What else do they do within the company? How high is the site on the priority list? If it’s low and it’s hard to perform a task it’s likely that task won’t get done.
Adminimal theme.
I can’t say anything extra the site hasn’t already said, well worth a look.
The biggest benefit of navbar is it’s ability to respond to smaller screens/mobile devices.
Managing content is the most basic need of the person(s) using the site.
The first thing you can do is help with the content overview page. Admin views makes use of views and vbo to override the default overview to allow filtering/searching and retain the mass action functionality. Being a view it’s easily configured to suite the needs of the person/company.
It also overrides the overview pages of comments and people.
Another option is Workbench. A better (imo) version of the core dashboard screen it provides configurable views on a summary page. The views can be removed or added using using (hook)
GET HOOK FROM REACH
The addition of Workbench Moderation allows content to be revisioned and placed in various states before being published. States and transitions can be modified and it’s all based on permissions.
The CMS user will be able to see clearly what state content is at and modify it easily.
Default fields allows you to set up default fields per webform enabled content type, meaning that a CMS user doesn’t need to create needed fields each time.
Options element makes creating select lists easier, stripping the need to enter keys and separating out each option into its own text field
A spam filter, such as honeypot, saves the user time having to delete any results that would otherwise clog up the system
Using hook_webform_select_options_info the default select lists available can be added to, including taxonomies.
Management of files is one of Drupal’s weak spots, but it’s improving
With the media module you can reuse files that have been uploaded elsewhere around the site. An overview page is added allowing users to mass delete media as needed as well as bulk upload files.
Entering content can be a time consuming task, a few tips to help users out.
With select lists there are a wide range of options, a few of my favourites.
Multiselect changes the standard dropdown into two boxes, with selected options appearing on the right
Term reference tree has a butt load of options, including being able to force the user to only select child elements, select parents automatically when child terms are selected.
Select with style gives a visual edge to select lists, and can include custom images and css
SHS There are fewer options available, but allows users the option to create new terms as well as force selection of only child terms.
As well as using media a couple of additional ways of helping users is allowing them to crop images after they’ve been uploaded. A good comparison list can be seen. Uploading multiple images at once is also a great time saver
A few additional options including setting up conditional fields. This allows the user to only see the fields they need to, making the form look cleaner.
Gmap allows the user to pick co-ords from a map, using for geo-location modules.
Linkit is great for linking to internal content, allowing the user to search for content on the site.
One of the most basic things you can do is include help text!
Field groups